Greens: Climate Change review ‘must be a wake-up call’ for Government

5th December 2017

The Green Party has described the Climate Change Advisory Council’s Annual Review as a ‘wake-up’ call for the Government, and said that the report reveals the staggering gap in ambition between the Government’s plans, and the steps needed for Ireland to meet its international climate change commitments.

Speaking in response to the report, Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan TD said: “Once again, the Government’s lack of ambition on tackling climate change and emissions is laid bare by this report. When is the Government going to wake up to the situation? Report after report, from the EU, from charities, from the EPA, all show that we’re moving in the wrong direction. The scale of the climate change challenge facing us is growing by the day.

“We hope that this report acts as a wake-up call to Government to get their act together. It shows that actions far more ambitious than those set out in the National Mitigation Plan are needed if Ireland is to avoid fines in the hundreds of millions.

“The Government says it wants to make the change to a cleaner economy but they are doing nothing to make that switch happen. Our transport emissions are rising fast because we are not funding public transport, cycling and walking. In our energy policy we are continuing to burn coal and peat as if there is no tomorrow. This is going to have to change. We cannot sign up to a green future on the international stage and keep burning everything here at home. Even former Fine Gael Minister, now EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan is recognising that climate change can no longer be ignored by Irish agriculture. The rest of Fine Gael need to realise this too.”